What started as an ordinary drive home on Sunday for Sean Gardiner quickly took a sudden twist.
The Saanich resident was driving home from a weekend getaway when a loose tire suddenly flew over the median on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway). Gardiner helplessly watched as it headed straight for his truck.
“Honestly, it was this is going to happen, and there’s nothing I can do to avoid it,” said Gardiner
The tire smashed into the front right portion of his vehicle.
“I noticed a car in front of me swerve a little bit and looked forward to see what I thought was a garbage bag at first, realized it was a tire. Had nowhere to go being a truck right beside me and car right behind me,” said Gardiner.
The tire had detached from a trailer being towed by a vehicle heading northbound on Highway 1 through the Cowichan Valley. It struck the front portion of Gardiner’s large Ford F250 super-duty truck, leaving extensive damage. Luckily he was able to safely pull over and nobody was hurt during the incident.
He’s just glad it was a vehicle the size of his that took the hit.
“One family that was in the opposite traffic who had the tire fly over their small car after I had hit it, it was a family, husband, wife and daughter and I can only imagine it could have been so much worse for someone else,” said Gardiner.
An incident that could have ended tragically, and one that experts aren’t exactly surprised to hear about.
“Trailers and RVs and boat trailers, they’re the most neglected thing that we typically see just because people like to use it for the fun part but don’t like the actual maintenance aspect of it. Anytime you go on a trip it’s a good idea to do a re-torque on the wheel nuts, then you kind of know where you stand,” said Darcy Scullion, the manager of Tires Unlimited in Victoria.
According to Gardiner, the driver of the vehicle towing the trailer has been identified. There’s no word yet on any fines or penalties.
Ben Nesbit
